The Greater Fools
by Fiercest
Summary: A series of connecting stories recounting the years of their lives. Lily, James and Severus navigate adolescence as well as one might expect them to. Summer, Year 2: Severus meets his grandparents and Lily visits the Great and Noble House of Black.
1. First Year: The Hogwarts Express

**A/N: ugh, it is impossible to find a title I like. The contenders: **

**For Those Who Remember**

**Harry Potter and the People that Were**

**From Hogwarts with Love**

**Severance**

**Mischief Manageable **

**Summary: Each Chapter is a year in their lives. It follows James, Lily and Snape through the years, from their first year at Hogwarts, through graduation to their lives beyond its hallowed halls.**

The Greater Fools

Chapter 1: First Year

x-x-x

There is no one left in the entire world that knows the whole story of Lily and James Potter. Sirius fell through the Veil, Remus died beside his wife and Peter is better left unmentioned. And no one ever really knew the end. No one knew that James' Potter's last thoughts were hopes of becoming a ghost, silly thoughts like that. Or that Lily didn't cry, that she could have run but didn't.

No one tells Harry Potter how much his parents loved each other. No one thought to reassure him of that. He never got the chance to be grossed out by their kisses at the dinner table the way Ron was, or found out if they held hands under the table when they thought no one could see, like Lupin and Tonks. After viewing Snape's memories Harry begins to wonder how his mother ever could have loved the man he saw in his memories.

x-x-x

James fell in love with Lily Evans on September 1st, his first year at Hogwarts. But he was 11, so he didn't quite know that yet.

The train tooted and students around him chattered. James was attempting to find a compartment that wasn't full when the train had suddenly lurched into motion and he- who hadn't yet grown into his tall, gangly body and developed hand-eye coordination- went flying forwards, taking who he would learn were Lily Evans and Severus Snape down with him.

He collided with an unknown entity and found himself face down on something firm but soft. For a moment he forgot himself and simply remained there, frozen in place.

"Ahem," someone coughed, sounding like they were trying very hard not to laugh.

He scrambled up, and found himself looking through cracked lenses at a cherry red, very horrified looking black haired boy and a sniggering red headed girl.

He spluttered unintelligible excuses and tried to turn on his heel and leave with something resembling a sense of dignity. Unfortunately the cracked lenses of his spectacles left him almost blind and off-kilter. He tripped once again on his robes and fell sideways through an open door and into an empty compartment.

_Worst. Day. Ever._ He thought to himself and wished wholeheartedly that the floor would swallow him whole and he could escape Snape's embarrassed glares and Lily's stifled giggles.

"Here," she said kindly, smothering any residual laughter. She came closer and pulled out her wand. "Let me help you with those." Lily kneeled beside him, muttered '_Reparo'_ and smiled. "All better now?"

James stared at her in awestruck amazement. He felt his palms burning red-hot and his mouth go dry. He swallowed. "Thanks."

"You're very welcome. Come on, would you like to sit with us? I think everywhere else was full."

James spent the rest of the trip having heart palpitations and alternating back and forth between gazing adoringly at Lily and having a staring match with Snape. The latter kept turning red in embarrassment and folding in on himself until James looked away again.

Soon the topic of Sorting came up, "You want to be in Gryffindor," he claimed, "Best house, my mum and dad were both in it. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are ok too I guess," Although he ceded this reluctantly.

"Mum says there's four," interrupted Severus.

"Ya," James conceded again, "but no one decent _wants_ to be in Slytherin, every dark wizard that's ever lived was one of their lot."

"But-!" But Snape was then interrupted by Lily, who launched into an interrogation unlike anything James had ever experienced before at the hands of anyone other than an adult who knew he'd done something wrong.

The moment soon came when the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station at Hogsmeade and Lily stopped her unrelenting barrage of questions about Sorting and Magic and Quidditch. Especially Quidditch. She loved asking him about it and he loved talking about it.

It annoyed him a little that she always tried to include the introverted Severus in the conversation, but it didn't matter much. The other boy didn't volunteer a lot of information.

"We're really here," she said wonderingly. He tried to look at it from her perspective; being a muggle-born, this must seem so- for lack of a better adjective –magical.

Severus smiled for the first time the whole trip. "Look out the window Lil."

They all did.

From their vantage point, the spires in the distance towered upupup and the majestic beauty of its sheer largeness filled something inside them that only destiny can touch. The effervescent golden lights twinkled like stars gathered from the sky and tossed onto a canvas of a medieval painting. Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry was the most breathtaking thing they'd ever seen.

It would be the home they'd always think of when the word comes to mind.

"Come on!" she exclaimed excitedly, grabbing each of the boys by the hand and dashing for the steps off the train.

"Firs' years!" A booming voice called above the crowd of students milling about. "Firs' years over here!" An enormous man in a thick moleskin coat beckoned to the smallest of the children, offering the most welcoming of smiles through his wiry black beard.

"A'right you lot, follow me now! Wer takin' a diff'ren' way."

The trio, led by Lily, who still had her hands –which were damp from sweat –clutching theirs, followed the giant through the crowd and down a long, winding road.

Eventually they arrived at a lake. There, moored to a rickety dock, were a dozen or so boats.

This time it was James who excitedly pulled the others along with him. They were the first to claim a boat.

Animatedly, James lectured the two of them on the history of the first year traditions and how the older students were getting to the castle. Severus pretended he wasn't listening, but James knew that he was.

x-x-x

James held his breath as Deputy-Headmaster Worcester placed the Sorting Hat upon his head. He had always been told that the hat thinks out loud, that he'd deliberate, that he could discuss it with the animate object. It was silent for 20 seconds and then—

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Loud applause from the crimson draped table at the far end. Excitedly, he dashed towards the cheers and took a seat right across from Lily, who grinned at him hugely.

Two other Gryffindors were sorted. A few Hufflepuffs, some Ravenclaws, and four Slytherins.

Finally, Severus' name was called. He walked up to the stool with hesitant steps, as if to the beat of a death march. The hat decided quicker for him than anyone else. It has barely touched one greasy lock of hair when it shouted what sounded like a death knell to James. "SLYTHERIN!"

x-x-x

After the feast James let Lily talk his ear off as they followed the prefects and made their way up winding staircases to Gryffindor tower.

"Pollywaddle." The ginger-haired girl leading them said as they stopped at a large portrait.

Lily jumped and grabbed his sleeve when suddenly the pink swathed lady in the picture moved. She gestured theatrically with her right arm and the frame swung outward, revealing a wide arch. The redhead and the boy prefect led them through it.

"This is the common room. Upstairs to the right is the girls' dormitories, to the left is the boys'. Weasley will take the girls up to their room; I'll take the boys. C'mon."

Lily and James glanced at each other then went their separate ways.

James smiled at Peter Pettigrew, who he knew vaguely and ever the friendly one, introduced himself loudly and jubilantly to his other dorm mates.

Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Harley Gibbon.

And so, it began.

x-x-x

It had been an awful morning.

She had tried to sit next to Sev at breakfast, much to the consternation and apparent disgust of the other Slytherins. He hadn't been able to meet her eyes. He just slumped down in his seat and stared at his plate. Her heart-struck disappointment was put to the soundtrack of Avery and Malfoy's sniggers.

"Fine," she'd said, as if she cared more for the essence of toad on the bottom of her shoe and stomped away.

She cornered and confronted him on the staircase later. The confrontation was their first fight since the time when he'd hurt Petunia and Lily had attempted to turn on her heel and stomp off with all the pompous, self-righteous nerve she could muster. Instead she'd managed to get stuck in the sinking step and fall over, fracturing her tibia.

Sev didn't even turn around.

Alice, a second year, and her boyfriend, a third year named Frank helped the sobbing 11-year-old to the hospital wing.

She smiled sheepishly through her tears at the middle-aged doctor who greeted the group with a stern look. Explaining her clumsiness was mortifying, especially in front of the two older students, but Monsieur Pomfrey didn't scold her or roll his eyes or anything. He just rolled up his sleeves and withdrew his wand.

In order to understand the magnitude of what happened next, one must first understand Lily Evans.

She had known she was different since before she discovered her magic.

She had never been particularly unpopular. She had her friends. But she'd always felt apart from them. She always felt like she was staring at them from afar, through the lens of a fogged up telescope.

The moment Severus told her what she was, every day little pieces of her began to accumulate in wounds she'd never known were there, wounds that had been there so long that she felt their absence more than their existence. Her abrasions slowly scabbed over with the bits she found.

On her second day of Hogwarts, that final lesion was sealed shut.

When Monsieur Pomfrey had mended her broken leg with a flick of his wand and alleviated the pain with a drought he'd brewed right in front of her, something suddenly clicked. Something magical had fallen into place inside her and she'd just _known._

Of course, like so many others in the years to follow, James had ruined that moment of utter clarity for her.

The tingling feeling of the drought working had just reached the very tips of her toes when the doors to the hospital wing had opened with a bang and in sauntered James with a bloody lip and a grin. As well as Severus, bloody-nosed and inversely angry. Both were on the arm of a bright purple-faced Professor McGonagall, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"What in Merlin's name did you boys do?" Monsieur Pomfrey demanded with the longsuffering air of a man used to dealing with ruffians and the proud countenance of an authority figure.

"Merely defended a lovely lady's honor," James with no remorse even as Snape gawped at him in abject disbelief. Potter winked at her and grinned wider than before.

"Well if it's to defend a lady's honor…" the healer trailed off. "I suppose exceptions can be made then."

"Really?" James asked in surprise.

"No. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Lily would remember the expression of utter horror that smacked across his face until the day she died.

All this was beside the point; Lily, who had never quite been a part of her parents' and sister's world had found her place somewhere. She'd just witnessed the mending of bones in a snap. It was the first bit of true fantasy she had experienced. Magic was a world of possibility and knowledge yet to find scope in her mind. Lily had found Hogwarts. Lily found a place where she belonged long before she ever knew that that was what she was looking for.

That was the point.

x-x-x

"Oh _bugger_," groaned James as he tripped over the doorjamb and was sent careening into the middle aisle of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He tensed for impact but his fall was never broken. Instead he glanced up to find Minerva McGonagall's face creased in bemusement, wand drawn, levitating him.

"_Cool_," a longhaired boy in the back row said.

"Indeed Mr. Black, very cool," the professor quirked an eyebrow and set James on his feet. "You're late Mr. Potter. Stay after class."

"But Au-!"

"I think you've caused enough trouble for one morning, don't you think?"

They didn't learn much in the hour-long class; it was more like a summary of what would be to come during the following year.

After class he approached McGonagall's desk hesitantly.

"What the hell Aunt Minnie?" he whined.

She cleared her throat and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Don't swear, Jamie"

Minerva had gone to school with his parents and had been a constant fixture in his life since birth. He didn't like her calling him 'Jamie' but he liked 'Mr. Potter' even less.

"I can't favor you here. We talked about this. Inside of Hogwarts I am your teacher," she smiled, "Not the loving Aunt who got to spoil you from the get-go."

"Fine." He grumbled.

"Detention tonight sounds fair."

"No it doesn't!"

x-x-x

Detention wasn't so bad.

The boy named Black from the back of the class helped him climb out the fourth story window and onto a broom.

McGonagall caught them, obviously, and made them do lines.

x-x-x

It took Severus a week to muster up the courage to apologize to Lily.

This was mostly because during that time she was always with other Gryffindors. The only solace he found was in her distinct avoidance of Potter.

He wasn't entirely sure what it was about James Potter that bothered him so, but he was ever so sure that it was _his fault_.

He did deserve the beating the other boy had given him though.

Severus said none of this to Lily of course, but he groveled and wheedled with fervency the likes of which he hadn't done since his attack on Petunia.

Of course she forgave him quickly, she always did.

"I'll never act that way again," he promised.

"Why did you in the first place?"

Because he just wanted to fit in; he wanted to belong, he wanted friends, he wanted for Hogwarts to mean finally being a part of something.

Because Slytherins weren't _supposed_ to be friends with Gryffindors, let alone mudbloods. (Which he'd never say to her face of course.)

Because he couldn't bear the thought of proving his father right about him.

Because he wanted to succeed, and to do that you need contacts. The only contacts he could ever make wouldn't even breathe in his direction as long as Lily was between them.

"Because I was being stupid."

His decision was made.

x-x-x

"A perfect brew as always, Ms. Evans!" Professor Slughorn clapped his hands giddily as he praised his favorite student. She smiled shyly and cast a sideways glance at Severus, who was sitting one desk over and whose potion's qualities were just as specific as her own.

"Thank you professor," she replied so as not to be rude. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friend's head whip back around and his nose bury itself into the textbook once again.

"I hope you are planning on going into a profession involving potions, my dear!"

I _wish you would stop singling me out and embarrassing me in front of everyone._

"You have quite the talent for it!"

_Please shut up._

From across the room James and Sirius, whose potion was a bubbling, goopy mess gave her enthusiastic thumbs up and stuck their tongues out at Sev. She sighed, rolled her eyes and buried her face into her folded arms to hide her burning cheeks.

x-x-x

On the morning of the first Quidditch match of the year, the Gryffindor common room was alight with chatter and excitement. Frank regaled Alice and Lily with tales of his first game. He was the Gryffindor Keeper. Being a third year, this was only his first year on the team, but his enthusiasm and careful boasts were neither obnoxious nor annoying. She loved the fervor with which the usually soft-spoken Frank spoke about his favorite sport.

Frank went down to the pitch early and she and Alice went down together a little later. She spotted Sev on the way down and gestured wildly for him to come over. He hesitated a moment before approaching the two girls. He didn't miss Alice straining on her smile, but Lily did. He sighed and pretended he hadn't seen. "Come sit with us," her invitation was kind, she had no way of knowing that everyone sat with his or her house. That a Slytherin would be unwelcome did not occur to her.

Severus sat through the entire game with dozens of eyes searing him with their stares and Lily apologizing and promising that next time they could sit with the Slytherins. "They would be even worse." He told her and turned his attention back to the flying boys and girls gilded in red and blue uniforms. He suffered through the gawkers and didn't complain.

x-x-x

Christmas came and went. Lily had gone home. Severus had not. James dragged Sirius home with him.

On Christmas morning James woke up to a pile of presents, some from friends, some from his parents. Sirius received just as much, including an adorable drawing made by his baby cousin Dori.

At the very bottom of his pile James found a red box, in it were a pair of socks and gloves, as well as a scarf and a hat. The note read: 'They're charmed to heat up your fingers but not melt snowballs. And the hat won't mess up your hair. Happy Christmas! Best, Lily.'

"I was supposed to get her a present?!"

It was April and the snow has already begun to melt when he handed her a scarf. It was messy, and warped, bright green and one side had fringes while the other didn't.

"Thank you?" she said uncertainly.

"I asked my neighbor to teach me," he explained, "She's a squib."

She smiled brightly and effused more genuinely this time: "_Thank you._"

**A/N: **My Very Unpopular Opinion On Snape (If you care, if not; please review and I hope you keep reading! THERE WILL BE NO SNAPE BASHING, I SWEAR):

I kind of think that Snape is a dickbag and I don't quite understand why people (mostly girls) find him so sympathetic. I think it might have something to do with his 'tortured soul' or whatever. Note that this is not the same thing as not appreciating the complexity of his character. In fact, I appreciate him and find Severus Snape a very compelling character indeed. I just don't understand why people _like_ him.

This is what I seem to be hearing and correct me if I'm wrong; I enjoy a discussion. From what I can discern, Snape's unhappy childhood, his love for Lily and his doing right by Harry in the end (and apparently all along) are the attraction, and the reason that everyone was all 'ZOMG SEVERUS MY HEART" all over the place.

This is my problem with him:

He's kind of a despicable person. Let's address the tortured soul angle. He grew up without a family that loved him and some guys in school bullied him. Know who's also been bullied at some point in their life? Pretty much everyone. **Know who else grew up without a family that loved him? Harry FREAKING Potter. **The person whose life Snape set out to make miserable for no reason attributed to him as a person in and of himself. I don't care that he protected him. He treated a boy like shit, who, I remind you, was an eleven-year-old. Snape is an adult, bullying a child.

_But Fiercy, he despised him because he looked like his dad, who he hated._

Who else does Harry look like? Lily. Snape claims to love her. Harry is her child, even if he looked nothing like her, Snape _knows_ that. **In mistreating Harry he is prioritizing his resentment of James over his love for Lily.**

_See? He loved Lily! That's redeeming._

I'm not sure what he feels for her is love; it seems more like a feeling of divine ownership. From what we're told by Lupin, who is one of the nicest, well meaning characters in the series, Lily was 'an uncommonly kind woman'. Set aside for a moment the name calling, we've all said terrible things to our friends under stress. She _is_ a muggleborn.

The Death Eaters' main philosophy was that they were lesser beings than purebloods, they targeted muggles, muggleborns and anyone deemed not pure enough and terrorized them. Snape was a Death Eater. By his own choice. He enthusiastically practiced the dark arts for years. He persecuted people just like Lily, people she was fighting and risking her life to protect.

Oh. And he tried to kill her sister… That was a thing that happened.

You don't treat someone you love the way he treated her.

This could have been a much longer rant but I don't want to make anyone angrier than they probably already are. I want to talk about all these things throughout this story. I have no freaking clue what led this kid who was mal-adjusted, but probably had some sort of personal code of ethics or principles to becoming a person who killed people because they were not born into his world and out of loyalty to one of the most evil men to ever live- the man who laughed as he killed the supposed love of his life.

**Anyway. **I'm going to have a lot of fun figuring it all out with you and I'd love to know what you think. Please leave a review before you go on your way.

Best,

Fiercy


	2. Second Year: Cooties

**A/N: Alliriyan is kind of the most awesome person ever who dealt with all my whining, bitching and moaning over this chapter. She contributed the funny one-liner that you'll actually laugh at. If you like Bleach this is me pimping her fic 'Hell Butterfly'.**

**Recap****: Lily, Snape and James meet on the Hogwarts Express, James and Snape get into a fight when Lily breaks her leg because of the trick step, Lily befriends Alice and Frank, the other marauders are introduced and Snape spends his first quidditch game sitting with the gryffindors.**

The Greater Fools

Chapter 2: Second Year

x-x-x

"Oh shit!"

"Lily_. Language_."

"Sorry mum," the young witch demurred before choosing a more appropriate expletive. "Frick, we're going to be late."

Harriet Evans bit her lip and pulled her blond hair into a high ponytail, "She's going as fast as she can."

"You should have seen her a couple weeks ago when she was getting ready for that rally," said George Evans. "I'm almost sure she missed it."

It was then that Petunia _clunk_ed down the stairs in white platform shoes. She wobbled on her way down. At age sixteen, Petunia Evans was almost a full foot taller than her little sister, even without her ridiculous shoes. Her blond hair hung to her waist in perfect waves, framing her makeup-less face. "I heard that Dad, and what I'm doing is important. The world is _changing_." She looked down her nose at Lily, "And she doesn't even know it because you won't talk about it and _she_'s not even a part of it."

Petunia had taken to sermonizing the Hippie movement whenever she and Lily found themselves in the same room. Her older sister had dedicated many hours to educating her in an area her admittedly sometimes-conservative parents wouldn't.

"Sure whatever, peace and love, but I'm going to be late for the train. Can we go?"

Lily was twelve when her sister took part in a peace movement, she couldn't have understood what it was Petunia was protesting against. She hadn't seen the pictures yet. She hadn't listened to the news.

In only a few years Lily would participate in fighting for the end of a completely different war, but for now her biggest concern was getting to King's Cross on time.

x-x-x

Timing is very important. Especially when one is twelve years old. A twelve year old fluctuates, changes, grows and regresses. A twelve year old is an irrational creature subject to the turbulence of puberty, peer pressure and complicated new emotions.

Lily, a girl who months ago had not thought twice about what she looked like on any given morning, come one day begins to fret over her hair, the length of her skirt, the amount of freckles she has, how tall she is, how clumsy she is, how silly her laugh is and an innumerable amount of other things. Lily has discovered a strange new flutter when she thinks of James Potter and his silly scarf or Sev and his bashful, crooked smile.

This was not necessarily a problem since Sev was where he'd always been and she didn't quite know what to do with these new feelings anyway.

On the other hand, just as all the other boys were growing out of such things, the unfortunate James had a very brief affair with the idea that girls are icky.

x-x-x

"Hey Lil," James shrugged uncomfortably and shoved his hands into his pockets when she approached him in front of Sirius, Remus and Pete. He saw her ears pinken, she must have noticed how awkward he was being and it was embarrassing her. Something in him felt exasperated and a prick of panic at her presence set him on edge. He'd been avoiding her for the whole first week of classes, and didn't see any reason to stop now. "I've um, got to practice for quidditch tryouts, I'll see you!" then he was off like a shot, leaving her with his friends, who she had never been very comfortable with.

"See you," mumbled the downcast girl even though he was gone.

The boys stared at her silently a bit, before her furious blush spread from fringe to chin and she all but bolted for the portrait hole.

x-x-x

"He's not so bad you know," she told Severus when he caught her staring in Herbology and nudged her with his shoulder.

"He's a prat," he informed her unrepentantly, failing to figure out how she didn't see it. He thought she had more sense than the rest of the Gryffindors. "He's just gonna get you in trouble."

Lily sighed, "Give him a chance? For me? He can really be very sweet." She turned her back on him to look at Potter and there was something in her eyes that made him tear the Q'rzfa weed more furiously than warranted from it's soil.

x-x-x

More sighing. Lily was beginning to make a habit of it and it was driving James to distraction.

Usually one to sit in the very front row, Lily always sat behind him these days. Perhaps because he always made certain that any available seats next to him this year were full. Her presence provoked disquiet in his mind that he really really hated and that made him very uncomfortable whenever she was around. Worse still; she became prone to staring at him in a considering way. This was the most unnerving change of all. Whenever he noticed he always felt the need to loosen his tie or run a hand through his hair to smooth it out, as though if he could pinpoint whatever was making her stare and fix it, it would all end and he could stop feeling like his face was going to burn off at all times.

Another sigh.

"Could you stop that?!"

Oh god.

Oh no.

_He didn't._

Apparently he had because he found himself standing, half turned to face the stunned redhead in an utterly silent classroom. His face blazed worse than ever. "Thank you." He squeaked with a finality meant to save face. He sat back down and tried to pay attention to the rest of Aunt Minnie's lecture.

As soon as they were dismissed Lily ran out the door, bumping into Remus, who bumped into him on the way out. He was thankful when the other boy kept mouth shut and followed him to lunch.

Suddenly, in the middle of the conversation Remus tilted sideways to look around Peter, who turned to see what he was staring at. "What do you think's the matter with her?" asked Peter jerking a thumb over at Annie Schwartz, who was a fifth year Hufflepuff. She was combing through the newspaper like she was searching for spiders, almost ripping the pages in her haste to get through the whole thing.

"Her older brother is an Auror-in-training," Andrew Belmont, another fifth year and sitting one seat over, replied in a whisper. "Hasn't heard from him in the past couple of weeks."

"Maybe he's just been busy?"

By the look of Annie, they seriously doubted that _she_ thought so.

Further down the table Frank was staring at Lily with a quizzical look on his face. She's sat down across from him and sunk as low as possible into her seat, guarding her expression behind a curtain of hair. The only visible parts of her were her bright red ears. He groaned; sometimes he forgot she was a 12-year-old girl. Not really sure how to deal with non-girlfriend related emotional problems he threw a biscuit at her and hoped that the ensuing battle would take her mind off whichever boy (it oscillated between Severus and James) had hurt her feelings this week.

x-x-x

It was before Christmas when Sirius began to notice that Remus had some sort of incident every month like clockwork. In September there was some problem with ministry paperwork (what with him being a half-blood) and he had to go home to sort it out. In October he got a bout of the flu and had to stay in the hospital wing overnight. In November and then December his mum was sick. She'd been sick an awful lot last year too.

Once a month he'd wager.

Sirius shared this strange observation with James and Peter the night before Christmas hols were to begin. Remus was the only one of the group going home. It would be perfect. They could do all the research they wanted without him knowing.

"It's his business," Peter protested, not looking forward to reading during his supposed holiday.

"And that makes it our business. As his friends," concluded Sirius.

They spent the next three days combing through every section of the library. They went to professor Vector and Monsieur Pomfrey separately asking about monthly ails. Neither was of any help.

All the while Lily Evans, the only other Gryffindor in their year that stayed at the castle, tried to make them include her but to no avail, especially with Snape coming as a package deal. Whatever was up with Remus they didn't want _him_ in the loop, even if it meant forsaking Lily's admittedly _very useful_ help.

x-x-x

It was decided that their only remaining option was the restricted section. And like many students before (and after) them they decided that the only way second years like them were going to be able to get their hands on a single book was to sneak in.

On Christmas Eve they snuck out of their beds, down the stairs to the common room. And careful not to wake the Fat Lady, they slipped out into the eerie darkness of the castle after curfew. Sirius led the way, carrying a lamp. It was after what seemed like hours of painstakingly looking around corners and muffling their footsteps-so much that they were almost dragging across the floor –they made it through the doors of the library.

Quietly as they could they crept up to the locked grate separating the restricted section from the rest. "How are we-?" Peter began but was shushed by Sirius, who pulled out a brass key. It unlocked with a quiet _snikt_.

"Where did you get that?" James exclaimed, only just remembering to keep his voice down.

"My cousin Andromeda married some bloke named Ted who might just be the coolest adult ever. He gave it to me and told me to make some mischief, and so I'm making mischief. He's right good for Andy I should think." Then he pushed open the grate. It made a horrible screeching noise that reverberated in the former silence of the library.

They all stood very very still. They had heard a squeak. They dared not even breathe.

Who knew how long they stood there, waiting for the quiet footsteps to grow closer. Whoever it was was between them and the exit. Closer, closer still-

Lily Evans tripped into view, rubbing her eyes, still in jeans and a jumper and clutching a book in her right hand. "Hallo," she said.

"Did you follow us here?!" demanded James, disbelieving.

She burned bright red to her ears, the way she did when she got angry. "Of course not! I fell asleep reading. What are you lot doing here at-" she glanced at her watch and her eyed bugged out. "2AM?! OH FUDGE OH F-" Peter reacted quickest, pressing a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise, but it was too late.

In the distance they heard Mrs. Norris' cane clatter against the floor and Filch's whining at her to slow down.

They ran.

Through the door and down the stairs, a hard left through a hallway to get to the great hall. Up the main staircase, another left towards Gryffindor tower. Four pairs of heavy footfalls barreled up up up three flights until Lily felt the horrible marble jaws of the trick step. The boys continued, not noticing their fallen comrade. They arrived at a row of abandoned classrooms, picked one and locked the door behind them.

"Where's Lily?" James whisper-yelled urgently.

Back on the stairs Lily sighed angrily and grunted while yanking on her leg to free it. "Come on comeon comeonecomeonecomeon!"

"Ms. Evans."

_Why do these thinks always seem to happen to me?_

Mrs. Norris was a tall, gangly old woman whose age could have ranged from 100 to 150. She walked with a limp, aided and abetted by her trusty cane and her trustier assistant caretaker; a young, but equally crotchety looking man named Filch.

"Out of bed are we?"

"Mrs. Norris! I! I um- well you see I-!"

"We'll see what your head of house has to say about this," and with a strength that disputed Mrs. Norris' supposed dependence on her cane she gripped Lily under the arms and pulled her right off her feet and out of the trick step. She set her down and moved her grip to her already blushing, burning ear. "Come along young lady. Argus! Stop lollygagging and follow."

"Oh fiddlesticks."

x-x-x

The second day back after Christmas Holidays Remus confronted his fellow Gryffindor as they were about to leave Defense class. The other boys were in no way ready to divulge what it is they were looking for in the restricted section but he knew a looser, less likely to lie convincingly, tongue he could interrogate.

James had not so much let slip, as ranted and raved about how Lily Evans had stupidly gotten caught after hours and demanding (without requiring or really wanting) an answer as to why she hadn't tattled on them. A guilty conscience, which James blamed his mother for, was plaguing him every time he even thought of her. It was apparently a frequent subject on his mind lately because he hadn't shut up about it since he'd gotten back to the castle.

"Lily, wait up with me for a second?" Her eyes widened in surprise when she glanced over her shoulder to see who was calling her name.

"Go on without me," she told Snape, who was narrowing his eyes at the other boy.

She rolled her eyes then smiled, "What's up?"

"About Christmas…"

"It was good, and yours?"

"No," he hesitated for a moment then continued, "I mean, the whole thing in the library. Do you know what they were looking for?"

"Oh," a dark look settled on her face, "I didn't ask, but honestly I'd like to know that myself. Why wouldn't they tell _you_?" She must have realized her tactlessness because she began waving her arms wildly around, making slashing motions, "No no! I mean, I'm sure it's nothing. I don't think they're intentionally excluding you or anything. I was just curious. I mean, you were gone! So it's probably nothing, oh crud. I am so so sorry, I didn't mean it that way or-!"

Remus, unaccustomed to her tirades, wasn't entirely sure how to stop it. "It-it's really ok Lily, I didn't take it that way. I swear."

Luckily, he was saved when Alice abruptly poked her head into the classroom, "Hiya, did you forget you were supposed to meet me like 10 minutes ago? I found my old notes for History of Magic if you want. Oh hey Lupin. Did I interrupt something?"

He tried to assure he that she hadn't but Lily was still mid-apology.

"Lily went loony didn't she?"

"Yeah."

"She does that. It's the whole nice girl thing. She can't handle insulting someone."

x-x-x

Sirius laid a hand on Lily's shoulder and the other over his heart. His voice contained so much emotion as he honored her, "You have served the cause well, Evans. Your steadfast lack of snitch-ery is greatly appreciated and your sacrifice will me remembered always." He took a deep, labored breath, "On behalf of the Marauders I salute you." He brought his fingers to his temple and with a stiff upper lip drew it away and stood at attention, waiting for the inevitable laughter.

"Oh…I …?" She blinked once, twice, three times. "I don't know what to say Sirius, that was really nice of you to say. Also, what are the marauders?"

"I've decided we needed a cool name. See James? She's not so bad!" He clapped the other boy on the back.

James blushed and stammered something unintelligible under his breath.

"It's not his fault that he's slower to mature than everyone else."

With a loud smack, James' hand met the back of Sirius' head.

x-x-x

"So, would you like to take part in a marauder's scheme? For real this time, of course."

Lily and Alice looked up from their History of Magic textbooks at Remus. "I'm not sure I _want_ to be a part of it," she said.

She glanced at Alice who giggled and buried her nose back in her book, "Don't look at me, I want absolutely no part of this."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Did Black send you?"

"James actually," (A snort from Alice's direction), "I think this is the metaphorical 'olive branch'."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"What's wrong with Lily's face?" asked Frank a moment later as he sat down between them. "You know if you keep doing that it'll get stuck."

"That's just her face," Alice informed him with a sniff and a smirk, "She's torn between her rule abiding nature and how absolutely _dreamy_ James is."

The subject of the couple's gossiping looked up, having finally heard them, gathered her things and flounced away. But not before thumping Alice on the head with a rolled up scroll of parchment.

x-x-x

Lily didn't know why she was awake, but now that she was she couldn't get back to sleep. With a sigh she got out of bed and stretched her arms high above her head. Then she heard that half remembered noise from her dream.

"Ooouuufff."

And then she heard it; grunts of pain and then "Sshhhhhh."

She opened the door and walked down the stairs in her nightdress. At the bottom of the stairs she found James and Peter lying in a heap at Remus and Sirius' feet. "Serves you right," Remus was saying.

"What-? Guys?"

"Lily!" James exclaimed from under Peter's thigh.

"SHH." She hissed automatically, making a face.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "Um, hi."

"What are you guys doing? You know that boys can't get up these stairs right? And it's like-" she glanced at her wristwatch, "2 am."

"Exactly," said Sirius, "prime time to spread a little havoc."

"There is absolutely no way that I will ever agree to help you! I'm tired, I want to sleep, you're going to get caught and somehow it'll end worst for me because _that's apparently how things work now_. I have learned my lesson." She huffed, "The answer is _no_."

x-x-x

The next morning, all the portraits in the entire castle had been rearranged. Those who used them to navigate took the wrong corridors and staircases, the portraits themselves shouted in alarm and exasperation.

And five Gryffindor students slept their way through breakfast and their first class.

x-x-x

When his best friend almost tipped her chair over in her haste to be seated in second period potions, Severus Snape knew trouble was afoot. Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew had traipsed in right behind her, without a care in the world.

"Where have you been?" he demanded of the out of breath Lily.

"I slept through breakfast. Any chance you remember how to transfigure anything into something edible?" she rummaged through her bag, looking for nourishment.

"Just rocks into really tasteless brussel sprouts."

"As opposed to the regular, delectable kind."

"I think it's their way of trying to make us eat healthier, because I'm pretty sure chocolate is easier."

"Don't let The Man keep you down Sev, flower power."

He chortled, thinking of Petunia this summer, decked out in her flower printed dresses, fringed vests and peace signed necklaces; talking about art, The Beatles, liberation and the Americans' war.

"I changed my mind," he declared imperiously, "I'm okay with brussel sprouts if it means I don't have to be a part of _that_."

"I don't know, it seems like we miss a lot of what goes on in the world when we're here."

"You mean what goes on in _their_ world."

**A/n: I'm not really sure where Hippie Petunia came from, but I kind of really like this headcanon. I haven't read much HP fics but it seems that she's the least developed character in most of them, while I find her fascinating. **

**PS: I really really want Lily and Lupin to have a bromance.**

**PPS: ToastWeaselofDoom asked me what I meant by Mcgonagall being James' aunt. I meant it in the Ted Moseby sort of way; like great friends with parents, raised seeing her as family. Thanks so much for your feedback by the way! **

**Please don't forget to leave a review to tell me what you think!**

**-Fiercy**


	3. Summer: When Everything Changes

**A/n: I swear, this isn't another one of those things I start and never finish. I have a 1/3 of third year done, a decent chunk of fourth, half of fifth, half of seventh and a bunch of scenes from the years beyond that already written. Once school is over updates will be less sporadic.**

**To clarify what this is about: It's the story of Lily, James and Snape. Each chapter will be the important events in a year (or a summer, in this chapter's case) of their lives. **

**Thank you to Nezz who gave me an idea for later chapters and thus got me writing again!**

The Greater Fools  
Summer Before Third Year

Severus stood on Lily's doorstep waiting. The anxious boy could hear her thundering steps as she ran to answer the doorbell. He was unprepared for the taller, decidedly blond teenager who answered in her stead. "Oh," Petunia said with a sneer, "It's you." She rolled her eyes and tried to peer around him. "LILY!" she shrieked shrilly, "YOUR WEIRDO FRIEND IS HERE!"

"You don't have to scream, I'm right here," Lily appeared at her sister's shoulder with a sour expression. "Hey Sev."

A honk issued from behind him and got Petunia's attention. It originated from a white convertible with the top down and five teenagers already piled in. She tripped on the hem of her excessively long skirt in her hurry.

"I don't know why she never wears clothes that she can actually walk in," sighed Lily to Severus' tepid agreement. His mind was on other things. "What's up?"

"Want to go the park? I've got some stuff I've got to talk to you about."

She glanced back into the house and bit her lip, looking apologetic, "Sorry, mom's having me make up for like every fudging chore I didn't do 'cause I was at school. Today's not such a good day. Can it wait?"

"No."

"Ok," she glanced back nervously. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," he paused and tried to inconspicuously wipe the sweat from his palms onto his too-short slacks. "I just- I'm kind of gonna be gone for a while."

"Gone?" her brow furrowed into three wrinkled lines, "Gone where?"

"To my grandparents' place for a while."

"That's so cool!" she exclaimed, "For how long?"

"All summer."

"Oh…"

He tried not to take pleasure in the disappointed look on her face but it was difficult. It was _him_ she was going to miss. It was _him_ she was upset that she wasn't going to see. It actually even made it a little more bearable to leave.

Lily put her arms around him and squeezed him tightly, "I'll miss you. Write to me ok?"

"I will," he promised, hiding his heated face in her hair.

x-x-x

Severus didn't write her the first week, or the second, but on the morning of the tenth day of waiting, two unfamiliar owls sailed through the kitchen window, one after another and landed next to her glass of orange juice.

"Hi cuties," she untied the letter from the first one's leg and rubbed its head.

"Ewwwww," Petunia whined, picking up her plate and holding it away from the beautiful tawny.

"I think they're scrumptious," Harriet Evans exclaimed, feeding one a biscuit.

The letter was from Alice.

_Dear Lily,_

_Kill me, and be quick about it. It's finally happened. I finally met Frank's mother. She is not the sunny personality I was led to believe she would be. Frank is such a mama's boy. She's polite and stuff, but she looks at you like she wants to dissect you, or like you're some sort of project she can undertake._

_I don't think she likes me very much._

_Although, it might have something to do with my inability to form complete sentences around her. Frank says 'hi' by the way, and wants you to agree with him that I'm overreacting. I AM NOT OVERREACTING, HIS MOTHER IS A LITTLE BIT CRAZY._

_I saw Snape at some dinner party my parents dragged me to a few days ago, he was there with his grandparents I think. I tried to ask him if he'd heard from you but he avoided the question. Is everything ok with you two? Merlin knows I'm no fan of his but he's your friend and I figured you should know he was being weird- well, weirder that usual._

_How's your summer going? I want to hear every little thing. And can you explain this 'hippie' thing? What's a hippie? Is it some sort of non-magical creature?_

_Many more of these irrelevant questions to follow._

_Best,_

_Alice_

Lily smiled; she promised herself she'd write to her soon. She tore open her second letter letter and read the salutation with confusion. "Sirius?"

"Serious about what?"

She waved her father off as she read, "It's a name."

_Hello Lily-kins,_

_As I'm sure your life is thoroughly dull and pointless without we Marauders around to entertain you with our antics and suave natures, I've decided to rescue you. We're bored, come hang out with us. Meet us tomorrow at Peter's okay? Okay._

_I'm sure you miss us dearly (me in particular), but try to contain your yearning until tomorrow._

_-Sirius_

"That's _seriously_ his name?" Lily shot her father a bemused look. "Sorry, I'll stop."

Suddenly a thought occurred to her and she face palmed, "That idiot didn't give me an address."

At that exact moment a second owl, smaller than the first, zoomed in and landed on the orange juice carton.

_James says I'm an idiot and forgot to give you the address. Sorry, I forgot you don't floo. Peter's is 345 Celandine Avenue in Banstead. Be there for 10._

"Hey mum, can you drive me to Banstead tomorrow?"

x-x-x

Peter's house was a nice, modest home with a literal white picket fence and a garden with plants she recognized, shockingly not all from her potions manual. A middle-aged woman with a kind face answered the door after she rang the cheerful chiming bell. "The boys are waiting for you in the sitting room," she gestured for her to follow and bustled along down the hallway, leading her into a quaint room with all the furniture turned toward the fireplace. In the middle of the room, on a table sat a radio playing music with lyrics not conducive with muggle airwaves.

'_Stir me up a little bit of loooove potion,  
Ensure my devotion,  
Make my heart beat with emotion-'_

Peter hopped up from the settee and flicked it off, "Ready to go?"

"Go where?" She looked around, "Where's Sirius?"

"Oh, we're not staying here, we're going to his place. He's got a pitch in his backyard."

"A pitch?" she exclaimed in alarm.

They were all holding broomsticks. James was holding two.

"Ever taken the Floo network?"

The Remus and Peter demonstrated first, while James said he'd go last to coach her through it. "Deep breath, say 'number 10 Grimmauld Place' and let go. Speak clearly or you'll end up somewhere weird."

Inhale. Exhale. "N-Number 10 Grimmauld Place!" she let go and was engulfed by the fire.

Number 10 Grimmauld Place was depressing and dark, not at all where she expected a person like Sirius to live. He was of a lively sort that didn't seem like he could thrive in the dank and dust of the expansive, Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. The Boy Wonder himself greeted them from the doorjamb he was leaning against. "Bonjour," he crowed, sweeping into a deep, ridiculous bow. "Ça va?"

"Must you?" sighed Remus.

"I just came from my French lesson."

"French lesson?" Lily repeated, gaping. "Why?"

"I know right? It's summer. But mum's a bit off her rocker and insists. Bright side is that birds dig a guy who can say things they don't understand."

"Yeah," Lily rolled her eyes sardonically, "We sure do."

Sirius threw an arm around her shoulder, "Here's what you don't understand about me old girl: I'm charming." He pulled her through the house the rest of the boys followed behind, seemingly enjoying her feelings of awkwardness. He led them through twisted hallways painted dark oppressing colors and past a large staircase that she got a quick glimpse of before James stepped in the way. (Had those been…heads on the walls?) Finally they arrived at the brightest room in the house. It was small but tall, with floor to ceiling windows with glass so old it was warped; filtering in random patterns and swirls of light and throwing rainbows onto the black leaves of long-dead plants. It was beautiful in its abandonment.

She realized she was lingering and followed the boys out the door into the bright sunlight of the summer afternoon.

The backyard was a huge expanse of grass rising and sloping into the distance. There was nothing but the house for miles. "Your family lives out here all by themselves?"

"Nah, muggle neighborhood. This is mostly an charm expanding the space we've already got." He suddenly seemed to remember something. "By the way, if anyone asks, you're a Weasley. My mum doesn't know a single one of their names and they're all gingers so she won't question it."

"Why?"

"'Cause you don't want to see my esteemed mother during one of her fits. She knows a lot of nasty hexes."

Lily was seriously starting to question her sanity in accepting an invitation to Sirius Black's house.

x-x-x

James knew that Lily had ridden a broom before, all first years were required to take a class, but he'd forgotten that she had been abysmal at it. Mostly because she was unwilling to leave the ground.

Adventurous, Lily Evans was not.

"Come on, just push off." She tried, but not really. There was a frightened hesitance to her leaps and it confused the broom into just jutting forward in starts and stops instead of soaring upward.

"_YOU_ PUSH OFF."

Fed up, he swooped down on his Nimbus 500 and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her up and bringing her higher. "JAMES POTTER, I WILL KILL YOU," she screamed, screwing her eyes shut. He halted and settled at 50 feet. Her broom stayed up supporting her, but she was gripping it so tightly her knuckles were white and she refused to open her eyes. "Don't look down, don't look down," she was muttering breathlessly over and over.

"Lily, open your eyes." She shook her head. "Open your eyes, I won't let go." Carefully she opened one eye then the other, then looked down. She screamed, jerking back. This caused her broom to follow her movements, flipping over, ending up with her spinning in a corkscrew in the opposite direction. She cried.

Lily was spinning so quickly she thought she was going to be sick, she knew she was going to be sick. Blood pounded in her ears and the air felt thin. Eventually, her natural equilibrium took over and she instinctively righted herself. The spooked new flyer stayed as still as she could, trying to avoid it happening again. Her hands were pulsing in time with her heartbeat and tear tracks made her cheeks feel sticky and itchy.

"Ok, now lean forward," Lily glared at the boy, daring him to give her more orders but did as she was told.

Like a bullet released from the chamber of a gun she shot off into the distance. _I'm doing it!_ She thought to herself as she zigzagged, dove and followed the slopes of the hills up and down, eventually finding her way back to the group. "It's like skiing," she proclaimed. The only vacations her family ever went on were to various ski hills every winter of her childhood. "You just lean a little."

"A little, yeah," agreed Peter, the only one of them who'd ever done it. "Can we play quidditch now?"

x-x-x

"And it was SO COOL. I flew like 100 feet high! I got to play Seeker. That's the player who chases the little gold ball. But THEN cause we were so few people I played Keeper. _That_ I wasn't good at, but I was _really_ good at being seeker cause I'm 'aerodynamic' although I think that was just Sirius' way of calling me short."

Mr. Evans chuckled as he watched his daughter in the rearview mirror. "I've never seen you so excited about sports."

"Yeah but this is a _magical_ sport dad."

"Think you can show me when we get home?"

"Sure!" she exclaimed excitedly while gazing at the broom James had leant her. 'Comet 180' was emblazoned in blue on the shaft. "I can't wait to show Tuney! This is the coolest thing _ever_."

When they got home Lily raced to the living room where her mother and sister were sitting listening to the radio.

"I just had the best day ever," she announced, brandishing the Comet.

"Why are you holding a broom?" asked her mum.

"I'll show you." Carefully, Lily mounted and pushed off the carpet with her toes so she wouldn't hit the ceiling. She hovered in the air, grinning like a fool. Her family watched her fly.

Her mother and father looked awed. Petunia looked nauseous.

"You can fly," Harriet Evans gasped in wonder.

"You can fly," Petunia repeated, more in a questioning tone. "How is that possible?"

"I'm a witch," Lily replied simply from her perch. Landed gently, she held out her hand to Petunia. "You wanna try? I can take you up with me."

"No!" Petunia shouted unexpectedly, hugging herself. "Stay away from me." She wrenched free of her sister's grip and bolted out of the room and upstairs. Her door slamming reverberated through Lily's spine causing her to wince and shiver.

x-x-x

The Prince homestead was an imposing building of impressive size. It was gray stone and had many windows; all of which were closed behind black shutters. The door opened the moment he rang the doorbell to reveal a woman who he assumed to be his mum's mother. She towered above him and resembled his father eerily, in countenance. His nose was hers.

"You're late," she said in a clipped tone. "You were expected a half hour ago."

"I-" he started, "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"You are correct, it will not." Arah Prince turned around and walked with purposeful steps down the hall. After a moment's pause he followed, passing a strange creature wearing a dirty pillowcase, who closed the door behind him and took his ratty coat.

The drawing room his grandmother led him into was spacious and wallpapered in dark colors. Arah perched on a deep red, winged armchair, appraising him owlishly. "Sit," she ordered. He complied. "I don't know what my daughter has told you about your stay here and what it will entail but let me dissuade any misguided impressions she may have given you. Your time here will be work. Your grandfather and I will be educating you on the world you will one day enter. Ours is a powerful family and I assume I can count on you to not make the same mistakes as Eileen."

She was alluding to his father and while Severus wholeheartedly agreed that his parents' marriage was the worst mistake of his mother's life, he couldn't help but think of Lily.

"No, ma'am."

"Good," she stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of him. "Today you will be shown the family trees of the older families. You will memorize them."

He was led out of the room by the strange creature that had taken his coat, it (he? She?) showed him the way to a musty but immaculately room filled to the brim with books. It was beautiful and his first thought was that he immediately wanted his friend to share it with.

"Elf, take out A History of Magical Britain Volumes one through twelve." The creature (apparently an elf) did as it was bid. It set them on an ornate desk in the center of the room. "Stay should Master Snape require anything," Grandmother ordered before shutting the door behind her.

Severus surveyed the enormous pile with a sigh and then set to work. All the while the elf stood in the corner being unobtrusive as possible.

Eventually the boy grew hungry and when the growling became too much for him to bear while concentrating he cast his eyes about for the elf. "Um," he began, unsure how to proceed. "What's your name?"

"I, sir?" asked the elf incredulously. "Master Snape is most kind to ask the name of a lowly elf like Dinkwle. Dinwkle is what this elf is called."

"Er, Dink-wool?" he sounded out the foreign name, it felt leaden on his tongue. "May I have something to eat?"

"Of course Master Snape."

_Pop_

He (it?) disappeared.

_Pop_

He reappeared with a tray of tea and biscuits. Severus practically devoured them; he'd never had biscuits so delicious in all his life. Regaining his manners as best he could and with a mouthful of crumbs, he offered Dinkwle one.

The elf's giant blue eyes widened to twice their regular size, taking over his entire face. He looked like he'd never been shown such kindness in all his life, like he'd never seen the sun. "Master Snape is very kind but Dinkwle couldn't possibly. Dinkwle is very happy just to serve Master Snape."

"Go on," the boy urged, uncomfortable with the praise. "I won't tell anyone."

Hesitantly, the elf reached out and took the biscuit offered to him.

The next day Snape noticed burns along the palms of his hand, thick black lines all in parallel across his leathery skin. They looked like the hamburgers Mr. Evans sometimes made on the grill when Lily invited him in for a bite. He didn't dare ask where they came from but Dinkwle didn't smile at him after that.

His lessons continued. His days were bookended by lectures from each of his grandparents; about blood purity, the important legacy he carried as heir to the Prince line and about his duty in society. They told him who was who, what was what and what he needed to do to get far in life.

"One needs look only as far as the Slytherin common room to find worthy allies. These will be the future leaders of the wizarding world and you will want them on your side. Your name will gain you access, your decorum will keep it."

Finally the day came where they confronted him about his dirty little secret.

"Lily Evans is a pretty face and nothing more. She is a mudblood and is thus of no use to you."

"Does everyone need a use? She's my friend!"

"Of course everyone needs a use!" his grandmother spat, "Your friends are a reflection of you and you are a reflection of us. You will go nowhere near this girl again, do you hear me?"

"…Yes grandmother."

**A/N: I've noticed something hysterical: The James/Sirius fandom is bigger than the James/Lily fandom. I have absolutely no problem with this; it is fabulous on too many levels to even contemplate. Slash is power my friends.**

**I see a lot of fics where Peter was poor and grew up in a single parent household. I think it's because people want to rationalize his betrayal as a psychological inevitability because of his circumstances. I don't want to do that, I don't want him to be broken. The tragedy of Peter, as I see it, is that he really was their friend, he really loved and cared for them, but when push came to shove he wasn't strong enough to value their lives over his.**

**Roses are red violets are blue, reviews would be lovely and gosh darnit you're cute ;)**

**-Fiercy**


End file.
